Not too long ago, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann was on Hardball, calling for the media to investigate her Congressional colleagues to "find out if they are pro-America or anti-America." Well, it turns out that someone has taken up Bachmann's call on a proactive basis! His name is Spencer Bachus and he has made a list -- a secret list! -- of the socialists in the House of Representatives. Or so he told the Birmingham News. Who are the seventeen socialists? That's the secret part, apparently.

From The Hill's Briefing Room:

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) puts the number of socialists in the House at 17.

"Some of the men and women I work with in Congress are socialists," Bachus told local government leaders on Thursday, according to the Birmingham News.

Bachus gave the specific number of House socialists when pressed later by a reporter.

By the way, I can't wait until someone tells Bachus about how "only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism." He is not going to take that news well, I imagine.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Bernie Sanders now in the Senate is a declared "Democratic Socialist." He has stated the reason Vermont keeps electing him is they are smart enough understand what that means. The problem with these throwbacks is they assume socialist means communist. They fail to realize that most of Europe is democratic and socialist at the same time. Capitalism depends on the exploitation of labor (workers) for the benefit of the owners (capitalists). For nearly a hundred years since the founding of the United States this was done primarily through slavery. Now it is done by paying less than living wages while rewarding the top execs millions and sometimes billions. If being against this inequity makes me a socialist, please bring it on.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

most of them have no frickin clue what the word socialist, socialism, social means.

repug spin/propaganda ministers knowingly link the words to communism which to the well informed/educated among us is exposed as having nothing to do whatsoever with socialism.

i've been very outspoken to friends, coworkers, and family when the subject comes up. the best tactic to use when contacting any bloviators is to point blank ask them to define the word socialist/socialism. in every case the look of fear/confusion is absolutely priceless as you watch them begin to stutter while thier face begins to turn red as they realize thier self imposed ignorance has just been exposed.

then take it up a notch by asking them if they plan on taking further part in any more of our widely accepted socialist programs like social security, medicare or our public education system and by and large they soon realize the shit they've been hearing from limpballs, hannity, oreilly and the rest of the right wing assholes sounds way off base from reality.

again, it's our job on sites like this as well as editorial letters to our newspapers and in our personal conversations that we keep up the battle against the extreme right element in our culture war for our nation.

When asked for specifics, Bachus named only one legislator -- Sanders, a self-described "democratic socialist," whose vision of a socialist safety net is more Stockholm than Stalingrad.

Bachus' spokesman hasn't responded to numerous requests from POLITICO to name the other 16 lawmakers. [...]

"Has Spencer released his list yet? Everybody's waiting with bated breath," asked Sanders, an independent from Vermont who has enjoyed a friendly relationship with the Alabama conservative since their days in the House in the 1990s.

Socialism seems much better than Corporatism...

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

In the absence of ethics, capitalism can be really bad. If we had kept min wage adjusted for inflation, it would about $15/hr.

Families used to do fine with one HS graduate working. I grew up in suburbia and that was the norm.

These days? Sweat shops are almost the norm. People get fired for almost nothing. Layoffs occur whenever the economy has a hiccup.

Sure, many homes are bigger but what a price we have paid. Executive pay is absolutely outrageous. Many of the biggest companies needed massive bailouts when the economy dipped for a few months.

I wish I had learned multiple languages. I honestly see our current government as an alpha predator rather than a public servant.

I rejoice in the movement of states to prepare for sovereignity in the face of a government gone berserk. I honestly would like to start over again.

Frankly, the Bush administration ruined America.

_________________"If the people allow private banks to control their currency the banks and corporations will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." - Thomas Jefferson

I wholeheartedly agree that Bush did quite a bit to ruin the United States, but we have to also accept that a lot of that blame goes on the shoulders of the people too. I cannot help but think of how when France, for example, passes law that is unfriendly to the masses, they come out and protest en mass until the thing is changed or at least a reasonable compromise is created. If you ask most people, they THINK they love capitalism. And I personally believe that capitalism is the root of our problem. People have become so greedy here that they can't imagine not being able to have everything. And for those of us who don't have everything, they just say we are lazy and didn't try hard enough. Up until very recently, in most circles the most prestigious college degree you could have was in BUSINESS! BUSINESS! Seriously, what is the actual good of this? How does one's mind expand by "learning" business? How does this enrich our lives, enrich the arts, help our planet? It doesn't. People LAUGH at me for having an English degree. "You'll never make any money!" I cannot tell you how many times I have heard that!!! But I would far rather have my English degree than an MBA any day. At least my brain functions on a level higher than just looking for money at every opportunity. So, I think a lot of the problems we experience is because our culture is culturally devoid. Everything is plastic and instant and essentially disposable. People go to college now to get a job, not to earn an education.

Arg, blah blah. Sorry, I'll shut up now.

_________________You can sing the praises of women all day long, but as long as you put a fertilized egg ahead of [their] welfare, you do not really care about them.-Dori 4/07

Well, I guess the people have never thought about the socialism for the rich either. That is what an elected representative is isn't he, or she? Someone who benefits from the distribution of someone elses wealth via the method of taxation. Or think about those who profit from war as well. Are they not the beneficiaries of the idea of socialism? I hope I am not twisting the word and tearing apart its meaning, but isn't that what socialism really is - a transfer of wealth from one person to another?

So, how dare the people who actually benefit from the idea of socialism deny its benefits to others with less wealth in the society? That is what they are doing in reality. They are denying the right of socialism to those who need it the most.

And, a further criticism that I might inject here is the role of religion. America prides itself on being a Christian nation. That being the case how does one legitimately criticize an advocate of socialism, particularly if you are a Christian, I mean? Wouldn't Jesus Christ have been the biggest promoter of socialism in his time? Sure you can say that it is better to make a man a fisherman rather than supply him with free fish but is that really the point? No, the point is that socialism has its time and its place. It needs to be the overriding ideology for the entire system to work properly. You can operate within a capitalist system but what is the point of the whole exercise if not everyone in the society is benefitting from the system? No one is going to deny that capitalism is a useful system; it makes fishermen out of all of us and allows us to be self-sufficient and to learn valuable skills. But, there is more to society than just learning how to be a fisherman. We need to live together and everyone must be able to prosper and to survive under whatever set of economic conditions is thrust upon them. Some people, for whatever reason, are going to be disadvantaged whether they are young or old. There needs to be a mechanism to fix this problem and that remedy is socialism - and not just a socialism for the rich. We really do need a broader understanding of this term I feel to make its benefits felt by all.

_________________My life is full of optimism and I am not going to stop living until I know the answers to all of the important things, like why does love exist.